In the Long Run

Call it blonde moments, aging, or maybe senility. Whatever it is, notable instances of memory lapse are exasperating me more and more often. I try to write all my appointments (when I remember) in my planner, and I review my planner frequently (when I remember). I schedule pop-up reminders on my computer, and post sticky note cues all over the house. These band-aid methods help me to remember appointments and commitments, but it’s the names that still confound me.

Yesterday in a parking lot, I saw a woman that I know approaching me. She had been in one of my classes about a year ago, and I could remember several things about her. She liked to ride horses, and she had worked as a ranch hand, until a riding accident limited her abilities. She was soft-spoken with a quick smile, and a very pragmatic attitude. I remembered she lived alone quite a way out of town. But, I couldn’t remember her name. I tried desperately to pull it out of the fuzzy, furthest nooks of my brain before she was close enough that I would have to address her. Her name just wouldn’t come to mind.

“Hello, there, lady!” I called out merrily, and safely. I’ve found that when I don’t remember a name, calling the person “lady” or “guy” in a friendly, noncommittal way sometimes buys just enough time to recall the actual name, and then use it later in the conversation.

“Oh…uh, hi..!” I could tell by my acquaintance’s response that she, too, recognized me, but I was pretty sure she couldn’t remember my name either. Good, we were on equal ground! We politely chatted about the weather, and her job, and I felt like her name would be rolling “trippingly off the tongue” at any moment. “It’s a “C” name......what is it?!” I was still searching for it. It irked me that I couldn’t produce it.

She left and I got into my car. “Chloe. No, that’s not it. Connie? No….Chlorine?...not even a name!” I resolved to look up her name in my records the minute I got home. But there was no sticky note on my steering wheel to remind me, so of course, by the time I got home, I didn’t remember to do it.

Today I was sitting in Sunday School, and I thought I was concentrating on the lesson, when it popped into my head with no instigation. CLARA! I almost said it out loud. I was somewhat appeased that it was indeed, a “C” name.

I hope my name retention skills will improve, and it won’t take me 18 hours to figure out a forgotten name. But hey, [girlfriend] [bud] (sic), until then, would you mind wearing a sticky note with your name written on it?!

Posted by Cyppy at 2:45 PM